SIDE OF TOY WITH THAT FAT?

So despite the way the economy has been these past few years, the fast food industry does not seem to be suffering very much. McDonalds in particular seems to be fairly well. As a matter of fact their stock can prove just how well McDonalds is doing. Well I came across this story about McDonalds in San Francisco starting to charge for happy meal toys. This made me laugh. My first thought was wow, there are going to be so many upset parents lol. I know many parents that bribe their children to eat by getting them happy meals because it comes with a toy. There was a law passed that fast food restaurants will no longer be able to give away free trinkets, action figures and other toys unless their food meets nutritional requirement. A parent ordering a happy meal from one of the 19 McDonalds locations in San Francisco will have to request a toy as well as pay an extra ten cents. This does not seem to threatening to me. Maybe a dollar extra, but not ten cents. Yes money is tight these days, but paying an extra ten cents to get a toy in a happy meal isn’t putting a dent in any parent’s pocket book in my opinion. This may be an attempt by the FDA to control obesity but they need to try a little bit harder. Childhood obesity is also an increasing issue with little to no improvement. Places such as McDonalds contribute to this. McDonald's kid's meals do not meet the law's nutritional standards. The meals have to be less than 600 calories and contain fruits (a half-cup) and vegetables (3/4 of a cup). They must have less than 35% of the total calories coming from fat, less than 640 milligrams of sodium and less than 0.5 milligrams of trans fat.

The current Happy Meal consisting of a hamburger, kid's-size fries and a cola would meet the calorie, calories from fat, sodium and trans fat requirements under the San Francisco law. It would contain 500 calories, 125 calories from fat and 600 milligrams of sodium. But it would not meet the fruit and vegetable quota. The pickle and onion on the hamburger does not come near the required ¾ cup of vegetables. The French fries do not count as a vegetable, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health. McDonalds will not be the only place affected by this law in San Francisco. Every fast food chain will be required to either change their food or charge for toys in kid’s meals. If this is effective maybe this law will be passed in other states other than just California. The long term goal is to get children’s eating habits on a healthier track but in order for this to work the FDA may need to be a little more strict.

PERSONAL ASSISTANT....I NEED AN ABORTION CLINIC...OH YOU CANT FIND ME ONE...

The iPhone is a pretty big deal, and what’s an even bigger deal is the iPhone 4s that was just released this year in October 2011. What’s a good product without a little controversy behind it? So apparently the iPhone 4s has this thing called Siri. Siri is a female personal assistant that can find almost anything that you are looking for. Well almost anything. Apparently the female personal assistant has some personal opinions too. An article popped up on Yahoo! News the other day about the Siri not being able to direct someone to an abortion clinic. The American Civil Liberties Union asked for people to send emails to Apple saying that if Siri can help someone locate Viagra then she should be able to help locate contraceptives and an abortion clinic. They are not trying to imply that Apple is intentionally biased against abortion clinics but they find it rather disturbing that Siri is easily able to locate an “escort” but not the “pill”. This article was kind of funny to me.

 Americans are so sensitive and touchy when it comes to topics such as gay rights and abortion and so on. It makes sense to be sensitive but at the same time Americans should not be so gung ho to assume people are doing things to intentionally harm another or disrespect another. I think that this whole thing was not done on purpose and probably just was not considered by the maker of Siri. I do not use Siri but I use things similar to it such as Google, White Pages and so on, that are supposed to help you locate certain things. When I use these apps I am not always guaranteed to get the results I want. It may be disappointing, especially to someone who is in desperate need of something. I am guessing if someone is trying to locate an abortion clinic then they were probably in pretty desperate need. I mean, you only have a certain window of opportunity to get an abortion anyways, but seriously. How many people do you think are going around getting angry at Google for not locating a place that sells a certain type of shampoo or something? I guess that if Apple is going to use something like Siri, than they should make sure it is able to perform in every way. Who’s to say that Apple intended for this to happen? If Apple were to include abortion clinics in Siri’s search I can almost guarantee that there would be an article criticizing Apple for it. Apple is a very strong company with a lot going for it. One function on the iPhone 4s will not be the end to a company such as this one. When people are out shopping for their Christmas presents and making their Christmas presents and adding the iPhone 4s to it, I am pretty positive they will not be erasing it from their lists because Siri won’t be able to locate them an abortion clinic. Nice try though.

BOUND TO GET SCREWED ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

So not too long ago there was an article in the newspaper about a guy who was arrested for “harassing prostitutes”. What made this article even more interesting and hilarious is when the man called the cops himself because he wanted a refund from the prostitutes. The 26 year old man had found two girls on the internet and apparently had sent photos of themselves to the guy. 

Well when the guy met up with them he was said that they did not look like the same girls in the pictures and was very upset. I am guessing that the man had already given the girls money and then decided that he didn’t want them anymore. He then proceeded to call the police and said that he wanted to report a robbery. He stated that he requested a refund and the girl had told him no refunds and left. The guy was then arrested for harassing a prostitute and was put in jail. This story cracks me up for various reasons. For one prostitution is illegal. This man was arrested for “patronizing a prostitute”, and was charged.. I did not know it was a crime to harass a person that is already committing a crime lol. Two this guy is pretty funny for calling the cops and requesting a refund for a “call girl”.  This man just made life harder for himself. Especially for being so stupid haha. One way another this guy was bound to get screwed… lol. Get it?!